If you have the desire to get better you should think about implementing some sport rotation into your season. Letting your body focus on one event at time will help it adapt more quickly.

Many times you hear a triathlete talk about how they are very strong in one or two events but seem to be weak in a third. This is pretty common for most of us and even at the elite level this is a fact of triathlon. This situation elicits the following questions:

How do we change this pattern?

How do we take swim from being a weakness to something respectable?

How do we do the same for our bike or run events if they are the weakest links?

None of these questions are easy to answer. But they’re possible to solve.

In my early twenties, I worked in a big city, took the train to work everyday and trained for triathlon about six hours per week. Even in the less than perfect training environment, I improved my fitness and my weakest link. From this experience I learned something called ‘Sport Rotation’.

I found this training theory by accident, but it worked for me. Riding my bike outside in the winter months wasn’t an option. Swimming year round with a Master’s program was out because I had to drive 30 minutes each way to get there. Time was a limiting factor for me. So I basically ended up concentrating on one sport at a time.

Steely FocusTaking a closer look at some of the world’s best endurance athletes we see that they usually run or swim twice per day. Even cyclist ride for a few hours, refuel and ride some more. When these athletes train they are focusing on one sport at a time. If you have the desire to get better you should think about implementing some sport rotation into your season. Letting your body focus on one event at time will help it adapt more quickly and improve on technique and endurance. If you’re training the way you are now and you aren’t improving then what do you have to lose by trying this approach?

If you are interested in using sport rotation (some coaches may call them ‘Run Camps’ or ‘Swim Camps’ etc) then my suggestion for this program would be to focus on one sport for three weeks, take an easy week, and then repeat the cycle. If you use two months to focus on one sport, then a complete rotation would take six months. After six months you can return to a more balanced approach.

If you live in a part of the world where you have all four seasons you can let the seasons dictate your schedule and it would look something like this: Starting around November 1st you start your run focus. By early January you would start your swim focus and by early March you would be starting your bike focus. You don’t have to make it that rigid as we usually have off weeks, colds in the winter, and life that gets in the way of training. It happens.

Cyclical TrainingSo how would we set up a typical cycle? If you look at your training in terms of time and frequency, then you would want 50-75% of your training time to be focused on that sport. Let’s take running for example: If you currently run three days a week, work yourself up to five or six days per week, even if that fifth or sixth day is only a fifteen or twenty minute run. That is ‘frequency’, and it will help you to run better the more you are on your feet.

In the other two sports, I would still train two times per week. I would do one drill session in the pool and on the bike, and I would add in an endurance set for each as well. Since the focus is on the running, the other non-running workouts are just maintenance and or skills (drills) sessions. After my two month cycle I would switch to swimming where I would try to swim at a higher frequency and increase my time in the pool. The running and cycling would be two times per week, with the focus on drills and endurance. Once we move into the cycling phase, we are repeating the process. Cycling becomes the focus while the other sports maintain the fitness gained while continuing to work on skills and endurance.

Master Each SportMost importantly, during these phases, become a runner during your run focus. Run with people who are better then you. Watch how they train. Swim with the swimmers during your swim focus months. Become a fish. Watch the fast swimmers swim. Watch their form and see what you can learn. On the bike, become a cyclist during your focus months. Ride with a group. Learn bike handling skills. Learn to ride in a pack. During these focus months you can learn a lot, you can improve a lot, and you can take your fitness levels to places you haven’t been before. Don’t become a slave to training. Use these ideas as a guideline, but not the end-all for your training. I have tried this approach with many athletes and even in situations where we only did a three week block of focused training, there was improvement. So, if you really want to improve that weakest link, spend some time focusing on it, and in a few weeks, you may just turn a weakness into a strength.

Michael Ricci is a USAT certified coach. He can be reached for personal coaching at mike@d3multisport.com.

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date: February 13, 2005

Author

mikericci

Our coaching philosophy is to help you get the most out of your available training time. We don’t believe in junk mileage or useless workouts. We combine the most current research and triathlon training techniques with proven race strategies to help our athletes reach their goals.

Author

mikericci

Our coaching philosophy is to help you get the most out of your available training time. We don’t believe in junk mileage or useless workouts. We combine the most current research and triathlon training techniques with proven race strategies to help our athletes reach their goals.